THE first of two tunnel boring machines (TBM) that will excavate the 7.2km tunnel that will carry the British HS2 high-speed line to its central London terminus at Euston was launched in a ceremony at Old Oak Common in the western suburbs of the capital on January 27.
The ceremony at the site of the future Old Oak Common station was attended by chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones; rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy; HS2 Ltd CEO, Mark Wild; and commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), Andy Lord.
The twin-bore tunnel is being built by the Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS) joint venture, which has already completed 13.4km of twin-bore tunnel from West Ruislip to Old Oak Common. On the final drives for the HS2 project, the 1624-tonne TBMs will remove over 1.5 million tonnes of excavated material and place more than 8,000 pre-cast tunnel lining segments, manufactured in a dedicated facility in Hartlepool in northeast England.
All segments and excavated material will move by rail, removing over 70,000 lorry journeys from the local road network, according to SCS JV managing director, Richard Adams.
The Department for Transport (DfT) says that taking HS2 all the way to Euston is essential to unlocking the full economic potential of the high-speed line.
The delivery of the government’s plans for Euston will be taken forward by a new body, the Euston Delivery Company. Once established, it will lead the creation of “an affordable and integrated transport hub,” combining commercial development with the new HS2 station, redevelopment of the existing terminus, and upgrading the London Underground (LU) station at Euston.
"Over the past 12 months, I have been leading a comprehensive reset across HS2 to get it back on track and I am confident that we’re on the right path to delivering HS2 safely and efficiently,” says Wild.
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